Another attempt at calling RACQ for road conditions heading north. I got through at 9, and the word was still no good for passenger cars due to flooding. That settled it—no Cairns, no diving on the Great Barrier Reef. Too bad.

Still no sailing out of Airlie Beach due to 30-knot winds. Okay, I guess we drive south.

We left the hostel at 9:30, and had a long day of driving, with a short shopping stop in MacKay.

At 6, we pulled into Rolleston, a tiny town outside Carnarvon Gorge National Park. We were told it was 1.5 hours to the park on a partially unsealed road. We didn’t want to risk hitting a kangaroo, so we camped at the caravan park in town.

It was a very basic place, but we cooked ourselves a good dinner, and met a friendly Aussie couple.

The main problem with the site, we discovered, was the proximity to all kinds of domestic stock. It was a cacophony which began with cows all evening, and roosters chiming in at 2:10 am. I didn’t wear my earplugs because I wanted to hear my alarm to get us up for an early drive. The end result was that I only got 4.5 hours of sleep. That sucks!

Comfortable temps, with shorts in camp. Nice and dry.